Fired Up: 3,800+ attend Fire Training Schools in July

8/5/2016 12:00 AM

COLLEGE STATION - Where there’s smoke, there’s the Texas Fire Training Schools?! More than 3,800 students and guest instructors came to Brayton Fire Training Field for the three weeklong summer schools held each July.

The final school, the 87th Annual Municipal Fire School ended July 29 and drew 1,759 students and 525 guest instructors and safety officers. Participants traveled to Brayton Fire Training Field from 193 Texas counties, as well as from 11 other states and 2 other countries.

The most popular of the 33 courses offered this year were Firefighting Phase I - IV, followed by NFPA 1041 Fire Instructor I and Emergency Medical Response. The school was hosted by the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX) in conjunction with the State Firefighters’ & Fire Marshals’ Association of Texas.

The 2016 Municipal School vendor show, which was held at Reed Arena on the Texas A&M campus on July 24, was the largest yet, with 136 vendors participating.

On the evening of July 27, thousands of area citizens and families of Fire School participants watched as TEEX staff and guest instructors demonstrated firefighting skills and rescue techniques through dramatic scenarios on some of the largest firefighting props in the world.

The 54th Industrial Fire School, held July 17-22, trained 654 members of industrial emergency response brigades and safety officers from some of the world’s largest oil & gas and chemical companies from 32 states and 10 countries. The school was conducted by TEEX staff members, who were assisted by 249 guest instructors.

On July 10-15, 486 firefighters from 16 countries attended the 50? Escuela para Bomberos en Espa?ol. Many traveled thousands of miles for a week of challenging training in firefighting, rescue and hazardous materials as well as instructor training – all conducted in the Spanish language. Twenty courses were offered with the assistance of 193 guest instructors.

During each school, a solemn ceremony honored 18 tenured guest instructors at the Fire Schools who died during the previous year, including TEEX employee Dennis St. John and Salvador Lambreton Narro, a founder of la Escuela para Bomberos (Spanish Fire School). Each name is engraved on the Guest Instructors Memorial Wall at Brayton Fire Training Field.

View photos from the public firefighting demonstration at TheEagle.com.